Top commander with UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is injured by protesters
Top commander with UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is injured by protesters/node/2590272/middle-east
Top commander with UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is injured by protesters
Policemen inspect the burnt remains of a UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut’s international airport on Feb. 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 15 February 2025
AP
Top commander with UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is injured by protesters
“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” it said
The Lebanese army intervened to disperse the protesters
Updated 15 February 2025
AP
BEIRUT: The outgoing deputy commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon was injured Friday when protesters attacked a convoy taking peacekeepers to the Beirut airport, the force known as UNIFIL said in a statement.
“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” it said.
The Lebanese army intervened to disperse the protesters. The army said in a statement that acting commander Maj. Gen. Hassan Odeh had contacted UNIFIL and promised to “work to arrest the citizens who attacked its members and bring them to justice.”
Demonstrators have been blocking the road to the airport and other roads in the capital to protest a decision by Lebanese authorities to revoke permission for a passenger plane from Iran to fly to Beirut on Thursday, leaving dozens of Lebanese passengers stranded.
The decision to ban the Iranian plane came after the Israeli army issued a statement claiming that Iran was smuggling cash to the militant group Hezbollah via civilian flights.
Lebanon’s civil aviation agency said Thursday that “additional security measures” meant some flights were temporarily rescheduled until Feb. 18 — the same day as a deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to fully implement their ceasefire agreement, including a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
Morocco’s GenZ 212 youth collective said Saturday it was temporarily suspending protests after two weeks of demonstrations calling for reforms in health and education
Updated 59 min ago
AFP
RABAT: Morocco’s GenZ 212 youth collective said Saturday it was temporarily suspending protests after two weeks of demonstrations calling for reforms in health and education.
The weekend pause was “a strategic step to strengthen organization and coordination, so the next phase of the movement is more effective and influential,” the group said in a statement.
GenZ 212 said its demands were unchanged, citing “accountability for the corrupt” and government responsibility for worsening social and economic conditions.
A new call for mobilization would be announced later Saturday, it said, adding the next protest would “target the government and all those blocking the aspirations of the Moroccan people.”
Formed in late September, GenZ 212 has built a large online following, with more than 200,000 members on the Discord platform.
Its rallies, held almost nightly across the North African country, have attracted crowds ranging from dozens to several hundred people.
The protests erupted after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a public hospital in Agadir, in southern Morocco, sparked anger over conditions in the health sector.
GenZ 212 has appealed directly to King Mohammed VI to deliver reforms.
In a speech on Friday, the monarch urged the government to accelerate development in education and health, without directly referring to the protests.
He said Morocco was “paving a steady path toward greater social and territorial justice,” and called for special attention to the country’s poorest regions.
Aoun condemns Israel’s overnight strikes in southern Lebanon
‘Once again, southern Lebanon falls under the fire of blatant Israeli aggression against civilian facilities. Without justification or even a pretext’
Updated 15 min 2 sec ago
Arab News
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel on Saturday for its overnight strikes in southern Lebanon, which killed one person and wounded seven, and briefly cutting a highway that links Beirut with parts of south Lebanon.
“Once again, southern Lebanon falls under the fire of blatant Israeli aggression against civilian facilities. Without justification or even a pretext. However, the gravity of the latest aggression lies in the fact that it comes after the agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and after the Palestinian side’s approval of the terms of this agreement, which included a mechanism to contain weapons and render them inoperative,” Aoun said on X.
The pre-dawn airstrikes on the village of Al-Msayleh struck a place that sold heavy machinery, destroying a large number of vehicles.
A vehicle carrying vegetables that happened to be passing by at the time of the strikes was hit, killing one person and wounding another, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV.
The Lebanese health ministry later said that the one slain was a Syrian citizen, while the wounded were a Syrian national and six Lebanese, including two women.
Above, heavy machinery destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Msayleh, Lebanon on Oct. 11, 2025. (AP)
“This raises fundamental challenges for us as Lebanese and for the international community. Among them is the question of whether there is someone contemplating compensating for Gaza in Lebanon, to ensure their need for sustaining political profiteering through fire and killing.”
The Israeli military claimed it struck a place where machinery was stored to be used to rebuild infrastructure for the militant Hezbollah group.
Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes killing dozens of people. Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities after the group suffered heavy losses during the war.
Earlier this month, the UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for renewed efforts to bring a permanent end to hostilities in Lebanon following the war. He said that until the end of September, they have verified 103 civilians killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire.
The most recent Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion worth of destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
The war started when Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September 2024.
Morocco king calls for social reforms amid youth-led protests
Royal speech much anticipated by the protesters, who have taken to the streets almost every night since September 27
Demonstrators have been calling for a change in government and for Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to resign
Updated 11 October 2025
AFP
RABAT: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Friday said improving public education and health care was a priority, but made no reference to the youth movement that has been staging nationwide protests for sweeping social reforms.
“We have set as priorities... the creation of jobs for young people, and the concrete improvement of the education and health sectors,” the monarch said in his annual address to the opening session of parliament.
The royal speech had been much anticipated by the protesters, who have taken to the streets almost every night since September 27.
The unrest that has rocked the usually stable north African country has been fueled by recent reports of the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in the city of Agadir, which critics condemn as a symptom of a failing system.
Demonstrators have been calling for a change in government and for Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to resign.
Many Moroccans have also expressed frustration at public spending as Morocco pushes ahead with major infrastructure projects in preparation for the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
The king pleaded that “there should be no contradiction or competition between major national projects and social programs.” ‘DǾԳٱ’
GenZ 212, the online-based collective calling the protests – whose founders remain unknown – made no immediate reaction to the speech.
Raghd, a 23-year-old sound engineer who had joined several demonstrations in Rabat, said she was “disappointed” that there was no explicit reference to the protests in the royal speech.
“I thought he would say something stronger,” she said without giving her last name.
The collective had urged its followers to refrain from protesting on Friday night “out of respect” for the king.
Yet Driss El Yazami, the former head of the National Human Rights Council, said the king’s speech might actually amount to “a national mobilization.”
He said the monarch “heard the call of the youth.”
In his speech, the king said Morocco was “charting a steady path toward greater social and territorial justice.”
He added that efforts must also ensure “that the fruits of growth benefit everyone.”
In July, he had declared that “there is no place, today or tomorrow, for a Morocco moving at two speeds.”
On Thursday, GenZ 212 demanded a “crackdown on corruption” and a “radical modernization of school textbooks.”
They also called for a national plan to renovate hospitals, recruit more doctors and health care workers, particularly in remote areas, and raise public health insurance reimbursement rates from 50 percent to 75 percent.
Official figures show a lack of education in Morocco is a key driver of the country’s poverty, which has, nevertheless, fallen from nearly 12 percent of the population in 2014 to 6.8 percent in 2024. ‘Sǰٴڲ’
GenZ 212 has insisted it had no political affiliation and no formal leadership.
Members on the online messaging platform Discord where it was founded discuss issues openly and put every major decision up to a vote.
Sociologist Mehdi Alioua said it comes as “part of a long history of youth-led social mobilization in Morocco.”
The north African country had seen mass protests in February 2011 and in 2016 with the Hirak uprising in the Rif region.
Yet GenZ 212 has brought together “young, connected urbanites, from the middle or upper classes,” as well as “young rural and small-town workers, often exploited agricultural low-wage laborers with few rights.”
The government made a fresh call on Thursday for dialogue with the protesters, saying their “message has been received” and vowing to “work quickly to mobilize resources and address shortfalls.”
Rallies have been largely peaceful, though some nights have seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism.
Three people were killed in clashes with security forces last week, while police have made dozens of arrests.
US announces deal for Qatar air force facility in Idaho
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that Qatar will be allowed to build an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho that will house F-15 fighter jets and pilots
Updated 11 October 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that Qatar will be allowed to build an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho that will house F-15 fighter jets and pilots.
The announcement comes soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to defend the Gulf Arab state against attacks, following Israeli air strikes targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha.
“We’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon, with Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at his side.
“The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training” as well as “increase lethality, interoperability,” he said.
“It’s just another example of our partnership. And I hope you know, your excellency, that you can count on us.”
The Idaho base currently also hosts a fighter jet squadron from Singapore, according to its website.
Hegseth also thanked Qatar for its “substantial role” as a mediator in the talks that led to a truce and hostage-prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, and its assistance in securing the release of a US citizen from Afghanistan.
The Qatari minister hailed the “strong, enduring partnership” and “deep defense relationship” shared by the two countries.
The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is Washington’s largest military facility in the Middle East.
Trump’s close relationship with the leaders of Qatar has raised eyebrows, especially over its gift to the US president of a Boeing 747 to be used as Air Force One.
Though the Idaho facility for Qatar had apparently been in the works since the last administration of Democrat Joe Biden, the deal prompted some hand-wringing on social media, including from far-right activist Laura Loomer, usually a Trump ally.
“Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans,” Loomer wrote on X.
Hegseth, who never said it was a base, later wrote on the platform: “Qatar will not have their own base in the United States — nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners.”
Israeli landgrabbers close in on West Bank herding community
Naef Jahaleen, a Bedouin herder, said the settlers provoke people at night, walking around the houses and disturbing residents
Most Palestinian Bedouins are herders, which leaves them exposed to violence when Israeli land-grabbers bring herds that compete for grazing land
Updated 11 October 2025
AFP
RAS EIN AL-AUJA, Palestinian Territories: In the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley, Naef Jahaleen fears for the future as Israeli settlers come for the land home to one of the area’s last Bedouin herding communities.
Life was good before in Ras Ein Al-Auja, the Bedouin herder says, but settlement outposts have grown one after the other over the past two years.
Settlers’ trailers have gradually given way to houses with foundations, some built just 100 meters from Bedouin homes.
In May, settlers diverted the village’s most precious resource — the spring after which it is named.
But for the community of 130 families, the worst issue is the constant need to stand guard to avoid settlers cutting power and irrigation pipes, or bringing their own herds to graze near people’s houses.
“The settlers provoke people at night, walking around the houses, disturbing the residents, making people anxious, scaring the children and the elderly,” 49-year-old Jahaleen said, adding that calling the Israeli police in the area rarely yielded results.
“There’s no real protection,” he said.
“A settler could come to your house — you call the police, and they don’t come. The army doesn’t come. No one helps,” Jahaleen told AFP after a meeting with other villagers trying to coordinate their response.
Palestinian Bedouin Naef Jahalin sits at a water tank as he shines a torchlight in search of any Israeli settlers incursions in Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan Valley in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on September 30, 2025. (AFP)
Land grabs
Most Palestinian Bedouins are herders, which leaves them particularly exposed to violence when Israeli settlers bring herds that compete for grazing land.
It is a strategy that settlement watchdog organizations call “pastoral colonialism.”
“They have started to bring in Jewish colonizers and give them some small herd or a few sheep or cows and take over a specific area. From there, this armed colonizer starts to herd,” Younes Ara, of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told AFP.
Settlements have expanded since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, with more than 500,000 settlers living in the Palestinian territory, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Some three million Palestinians live in the territory.
Jahaleen said Israeli herding, combined with repeated harassment, aimed to make Palestinians leave an area.
“You never know when or how they’ll harass you. The goal is to make you leave,” Jahaleen said as he stood guard near his home one night, occasionally flashing a powerful torch up a gully near where young settlers had been bringing supplies.
That night, Jahaleen was joined on his watch by Doron Meinrath, a former army officer who sometimes leads volunteers for an Israeli organization called Looking the Occupation in the Eye.
Several foreign and Israeli activists help Jahaleen by standing watch, documenting settlers’ moves, calling the Israeli police or army, and trying to deter violence with their presence, taking turns for eight-hour shifts day and night.
“Let’s go after them,” Meinrath said as he saw a car drive down a hill on an illegal road finished last winter that connects the nascent Israeli outpost to a formal settlement.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the United Nations under international law.
Once caught up with the young man’s Toyota — which was missing a headlight and had a cracked windscreen — Meinrath marked down the number plate and reported it to the police as a vehicle unsafe for the road.
His aim was to get the vehicle impounded, in a bid to slow further land grabs.
Changing times
Even with the inexorable growth of settler outposts, Meinrath said he felt organizations such as his posed “a problem” for the settler movement.
Although he had always been left-wing, Meinrath said his opinions fortified as he saw Israel change and the settlement movement become stronger politically.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet openly call for the West Bank’s annexation, and more specifically that of the Jordan Valley.
Abu Taleb, a 75-year-old herder from Ras Ein Al-Auja, said he saw the land he was born on change, too.
Nestled between rocky hills to the west and the flat Jordan Valley that climbs up the Jordanian plateau to the east, his community used to be self-sufficient.
A young Palestinian Bedouin boy gives water to a flock of sheep by his family's water tank in Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan Valley in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on September 30, 2025. (AFP)
But since settlers cut off access to the spring, he and his sons must pay to refill the water tank they need to quench their sheep’s thirst every three days.
After another settlement outpost sprang up a stone’s throw from his home, Taleb must now also bring his sheep into their pen when settlers arrive with their own herd, for fear of violence.
“My life as a child was good. But now, their lives are not good,” he said, pointing to three of his grandchildren milling around under the shade of a lonely acacia tree.
“They grew up in a bad life. These kids are afraid of the settlers everywhere.”
